The road has always called to me. It seems travel of any type and anywhere has enticed my imagination for as far back as I can remember.
I love to hike, most especially in variable surroundings. The best days of any vacation are the days we’re back on the road again.
My career choice allowed for some travel; but those days out in the field were always the best.
That passion existed in the beginning, and it remains perhaps even more pronounced now in my later years. I think I would be most content to be on the go somewhere seventy, eighty, or maybe even ninety percent of the time. I’m always ready to go.
I now ask myself, now that my fixed obligations in my retirement are not quite so severe, why am I not out there more now?
I’ve viewed those retirees who spend most of their time out “RVing” and just sight seeing and such a little selfish. They’re not attaching themselves to a community so that they may be on a school board or something useful like that.
My own experience of limited vacationing and sight seeing for a week or so during my working life found me ready to get back to work. I had always said, “I’ve had enough of the candy and desert of touring vacations, but now I’m ready to get back to the meat of life and my work.”
I suppose I’ve carried that same attitude into my retirement even though I’ve been pretty well out of the work force for almost ten years now.
In the back of my mind, I suppose I’ve told myself that I should be at home working on something, even if it’s just a retirement project, rather than going out traveling somewhere to sight see and such. After all, to what use can I put to just looking at stuff without being productive or something?
As a result, I spend much of my time on this or that project that I often enjoy, but when push comes to shove, I find myself often longing to get out and find something to do perhaps somewhere far away. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll regret not getting out enough before my health begins to fail; and that event could occur any day at my age now into it’s eighth decade.
So I’m finding myself a little conflicted now. Essentially, I’m rediscovering the basic foundation of my soul is that of a wanderer. I inherited this trait from my maternal grandfather. He went back to his first love, the sea, as he neared fifty years. I totally understand.
So if I resign myself to my basic root passions, I will become a late coming wanderer. A more enticing term would be “adventurer”.
A question arises, though. Of what value is my wandering experience going to be for me, my family, and my community? First glance would say none whatsoever. Would it simply be a quest of self indulgence? In a way, this thinking has kept my from doing just that up to this point in time.
I’ve completed several of my planned retirement projects. I’ve built my new hangar. I’ve got two airplanes running in good shape. I rebuilt and sold a pop-up camper, a 2 ton truck, several houses my wife had inherited, and a 1974 Airstream trailer. I’m in the process of doing all I plan to do on a 1932 Chevy sedan I’ve had since high school. I’m thinking of selling that car so I can make room for the wood sail boat kit I may plan to order.
All this time, though, I’m asking myself as to whether or not I’m doing things that fill me; things that honor God’s will for me at this stage of my life? Many people say that God gives us gifts intending to grow his Kingdom; and those gifts come in the form of talents and passions God places in our hearts. Hindus use the term “Atman”. The goal of the Hindu individual is to seek and find the basic foundation of his soul that makes him who he is. The discovery of his passion in life renders an insight of this “Atman”.
Well, what did I say about clear, on-going passion in my life? Travel and adventure! Should I and could I ignore a basic tenant of who and what I am? But I am in conflict. Really? Didn’t I just indicate that travel and adventure on my part would only be self indulgent?
Perhaps a fracture in the Universe comes into play in my case? Ain’t life a bitch!
Well, wait a minute. If my logic makes any sense at all, then the passions I possess are to be considered the gifts of my Creator. Those passions are to be interpreted for the sake of Eternity, are they not?
So perhaps I need to review my perspective? Perhaps some value may exist in my desire to travel and find adventure at this stage of my life?
On more than one occasion, I have found myself in conversation with others. We would speak of things we saw and did while on trips. One of us would say, “I tend to pay more attention to my surroundings when I travel. Everything I see is new and possibly unfamiliar. Traveling makes me more aware of my immediate surroundings. While I’m at home, everything is the same. I tend to ignore the things about me and remain a little more absorbed in the routine things.”
Recalling these conversations made me think a little. That’s why Iove to travel! It’s the ongoing stimulus of the new and the unfamiliar. I’m much more in tune with the things around me. For example, how stark those desert mountains are; or the color of the light on that butte; and so it goes. One panorama after another!
As I take a resting breath on the rock outcropping overlooking the phenomenal canyon where I’d just been hiking, I whisper to the Spirit about me how grand this place is. I’m filled with gratefulness and praise for this moment.
I enjoy reading articles of the studies of early pre-homo sapien creatures whom scientists believe may be the precursors of humanity. Arguments prevail as to when the possible descendants of these creatures can be defined as human. One argument goes saying these fellows became human once they demonstrate recognition for their dead by offering proper respect of some sort. These creatures have recognized their lives can be more than just what is seen. They have begun some form of relationship with an unseen, but underlying power. They can now be called human.
We humans can define ourselves similarly. We are the only creatures who have become aware to be capable of imagining beyond our surroundings. This means we are capable of being aware of the possibility of an all encompassing surrounding Spirit. We may not be specifically aware of what this nature is, but we naturally sense its presence. We can conceive beyond our immediate viewpoint. We can imagine.
When I travel in the midst of some sort of outdoor endeavor, I am consumed by my surroundings. I offer praise for the opportunity. I am communicating a relationship with the Eternal.
The Creator conceived of a creature with whom He could cherish. One who had the capability of recognition of the essence of Eternity. This is the purpose of the existence of humanity and of life, itself.
Yes, there is a purpose and a source of fulfillment in my passion for the road!